Very true, the thing with Tabes trick would be better for keeping out PL low. But if we need to power up for some reason then I was saying we could just spike our PL and lie about getting the boost from Jaffur's trick, cuz it creates an obvious effect, also it has the benefit of not being Kaioken which might be recognizable as a Saiyan technique.
We also need to research our other research ideas - the instantaneous USSJ on-hit trick would massively increase our damage output for free, and has the advantage of not being politically awkward - it's explicitly an SSJ-only trick, like the Golden Oozaru.
I would like to experiment with the multiform oozaru energy transfer, if only to make sure our saiyan body can handle the strain. It is a boost that currently would put us at the level of a SS2 and if we ever unlock higher forms, the Oozaru PL should increase and said boost with it.
While I'm not opposed to working on those sorts of research projects. For our next big event, Tamar's invasion, working on our Tien style and say Team fighting seems like a better use of our time.
And Vegeta was basically the ONLY person in DBZ who took 'saiyan pride' to such absurd levels. Even by saiyan full-blood standards he was a nut, and we are all of us hybrids.
I would like to experiment with the multiform oozaru energy transfer, if only to make sure our saiyan body can handle the strain. It is a boost that currently would put us at the level of a SS2 and if we ever unlock higher forms, the Oozaru PL should increase and said boost with it.
Well that's going to be tough, since we can't even go full GO in the hall - if we could, endurance-training GO like Jaffur suggested would be top of the action plan. I suppose this event might temporarily relax those restrictions outside of the hall, on the basis that anyone capable of detecting us will already have done so, but it might not. Alas, once we could meditate as a FPSSJ on the moon in peace...
It's still a good backup plan if the Spirit Bomb fails though.
Given the ridiculous returns it gives for the short amount of time it's up and the huge effect a higher PL can have in this system, I'm pretty sure we're going to max it, though we're obviously going to max Jaffur's trick too because free PL is king. Short of extremely effective tricks like the Dragon's TK I'm reasonably confident Tabe's trick (which really needs a better name) will turn a fair fight into a curbstomp, unless I've misunderstood the system (or possibly just exactly how stamina-intensive it is.)
Oh hey, another thought. @PoptartProdigy, Kikoho and Shin Kikoho both use Life energy instead of ki as a power source right? They have a backlash and can only be used so many times in a fight (between Senzu beans, anyway.) Does the fact that they're effectively draining our health instead of our ki mean that they're less stamina-intensive? Because that would be a really good combo with Tabe's trick. (It needs a name, Tabe. Making people call it "Tabe's trick" is super egotistical.)
Well that's going to be tough, since we can't even go full GO in the hall - if we could, endurance-training GO like Jaffur suggested would be top of the action plan. I suppose this event might temporarily relax those restrictions outside of the hall, on the basis that anyone capable of detecting us will already have done so, but it might not. Alas, once we could meditate as a FPSSJ on the moon in peace...
It's still a good backup plan if the Spirit Bomb fails though.
Actually, we can use GO in the hall, just not at full power. We can control how much of the super saiyan boost we get, with a minimum of 145 million.
If we train the OET without turning super saiyan we would be trying to handle a FPSS PL with our base body but if we transform into ss to better handle the strain we can still work our way up from 145 million above FPSS up until it is safe for the wards (theoretically FPGO for a few moments, which is 375 above FPSS or an OET + half ss boost)
Any fight where we use it would probably leave us exhausted afterwards anyway - beating them more quickly would likely leave us in a better spot, because we'd be on average just as tired but have taken less damage.
The thing about Tabe's trick is that it doesn't show up as a PL increase to sensors. I'm not sure what you mean here - Jaffur's 5% trick is a marginal increase (it'll rise with mastery, but if it breaks 25% I'll eat my hat, and that's highballing it) whilst Tabe's lets you go way higher. The Kaio-Ken is detectable by sensors (given how we could measure Jaffur and Berra at the start of the quest) and just raising our own PL would also be detectable, thus missing the point.
I mean, we're totally going to use Jaffur's trick, but it's not an absolute gamebreaker in the same way this hypothetical use of Tabe's would be.
Vegeta became super saiyan god through training and, from what we have seen of his trsining with Whiss, it might have involved compressing his ki until there is no waste to turn it into god ki. Now, I seriously doubt that is the case for Jaffur's trick but there are enough similarities between methods that I am not entirely discarding the theory like most of the ones lailoken presents.
Personally, I don't think it is anywhere near producing god ki but mastery of the trick might put us in the right track to achieve it. Might.
Of course, this is unconfirmed and there is no proof but the idea has come up a few times since we first tried to figure the technique by compressing our ki. I feel like we are missing several steps before that though so I wouldn't worry about it yetsince they aren't quite that much ofa fit.
Given the ridiculous returns it gives for the short amount of time it's up and the huge effect a higher PL can have in this system, I'm pretty sure we're going to max it, though we're obviously going to max Jaffur's trick too because free PL is king. Short of extremely effective tricks like the Dragon's TK I'm reasonably confident Tabe's trick (which really needs a better name) will turn a fair fight into a curbstomp, unless I've misunderstood the system (or possibly just exactly how stamina-intensive it is.)
I'm a bit confused about this, really. I mean, it makes sense that in a normal fair fight, going up against someone with even a 10% power level advantage is seriously a handicap. But things appear to get complicated in extreme cases. To take something from show canon:
Piccolo was able to at least briefly stall Frieza during the battle on Namek when Frieza was in his 50% power final form, which should have placed him well over an order of magnitude beyond Piccolo in power level. As I recall, Piccolo made some reference to burning up all his energy in one or a few shots, which is the kind of thing that makes me wonder if maybe Tabe's trick or something like it actually was known to the Z fighters. But in any case, it seems like the whole "fight someone twice as strong as you, instantly go splat" rule isn't QUITE as hard and fast as we might think. There is at least room for a somewhat sustained period of trying to wait people out.
If so, it's probably the only reason Exile tournament fighting is normally anything other than a race to see who can Kaio-Ken hardest without having a heart attack.
...
It needs a name, Tabe. Making people call it "Tabe's trick" is super egotistical.)
Well... yes and no. I mean, we could trivialize anyone's ability to break free of a hold or immobilize them, as Berra was able to immobilize Kakara and Jaffur with raw telekinesis back in the prologue. But that wouldn't last since we'd be burning ourselves out to do it, we'd have to knock them out, and in DBZ, that generally involves beating people until their energy runs out and they're injured.
Well... yes and no. I mean, we could trivialize anyone's ability to break free of a hold or immobilize them, as Berra was able to immobilize Kakara and Jaffur with raw telekinesis back in the prologue. But that wouldn't last since we'd be burning ourselves out to do it, we'd have to knock them out, and in DBZ, that generally involves beating people until their energy runs out and they're injured.
Pretty? In all seriousness, this question as it's phrased is a little difficult to answer. Whoever is the best is by no means a simple or straightforward thing in the first place, and what constitutes accuracy is even somewhat disputed.
Multiform Idea
-Kakara 1 feels the grass.
-Kakara 2 also feels the grass.
--We now have a backup in case 1 fails somehow.
-Golden Oozaru 3 holds 1 and 2 in her hands so they aren't stuck in one spot with their hands in the air like they just don't care while charging.
--Well that doesn't sound so bad.
---For five minutes. And since it beat everyone else in under two... eh, you're sure you can handle it.
----IT judiciously and block attacks with 3's body if necessary.
[X] Feel the grass.
-[X] Have a Multiform in Golden Oozaru form distract the Dragon.
-[X] Ask the sorcerers if they can make it so the dragon can't sense us charging our attack.
All Is One
In a daze, you split off a multiform. She immediately gets to work, hurling a power ball into the sky before transforming both ways. "Maya," you say, "I'm going to try something. Two is going to keep Dazarel distracted, but I want you to get away. If he notices what I'm doing, he's probably not going to think twice before shooting."
"I'm not going anywhere," she says, instantly. "What are you do- doing?"
You debate, for an instant, arguing with her. You dismiss it. You have no time, and you just have to hope and pray that Dazarel won't notice what you're about to try...
...well, and still talk. Just not to Maya. You can guess she's not going to move, for whatever stupid reason.
With a mental shudder of disgust, you reach out for Dandeer. I need you to hide me from the dragon.
Oh, I'm sorry, the greatest magical working since the Hall isn't special enough for the sainted princess? she immediately replies. Shut the fuck up. I'm too busy to spend time entertaining your need for a private enclos-
You widen the broadcast to the rest of the sorcerers, not even bothering to hide that fact from her. I'm charging a massive blast. I need a shield in between me and Dazarel so he doesn't notice and blast me mid-stream. Can you do it?
You get at least a dozen answers in the affirmative in seconds.
Awesome, you reply, still watching the fight as Two enters with a kikoho at full power, ki concentration in bloom around her. You wince slightly at the stabbing sensation in your senses -- it's been a while since you felt something so powerful you simply couldn't shrug it off. Please do that.
"Kar- Kakara!" says Maya, a pleading tone in her voice. "Please, tell me what's happening! Wha- what are you goin- going to do?"
A shimmering wall of magic springs up in front of you. You step back and snap your head up on reflex, trying to see the top. Your eyes water as you try to make it out.
You take a very deep breath. "I'm going to try to use a technique my grandpa taught me. Something nobody has seen in years. Please, Maya, get clear."
And then, closing your eyes, you raise your arms over your head and-
Feel the grass.
* * *
You feel the wind rustling through your fur as you hurl yourself aside from Dazarel's retaliatory stream of flame. Pushing against the resistance to your movements -- now that you all have figured it out, Dazarel isn't even trying to be subtle about it -- you cup your hands at your waist. "KAMEHAMEHA!"
At the last seconds, a wrenching tug spoils your aim, and the beam going hurtling off into space. You detonate it before it gets too far, and the focus that takes costs you as a sudden, crushing weight slams you to the ground and Dazarel leaps towards you.
* * *
The breeze.
* * *
Patriarch Yammar comes hurtling in from the side with a howl, great bloodied rents all over his body, and slams Dazarel to the side just before the dragon reaches you. You lunge forward and snap out a punch that slams the dragon's jaws closed before he can bite the older saiyan's head off. Then a great telekinetic blast resounds over the landscape, and the two of you go spinning.
* * *
The trees.
* * *
"SHIN KIKOHO!"
Dazarel vanishes in a plume of smoke and dust as yet another section of the plains evaporates. You look up to see Grandma Apra, back in oozaru form and at full power, Tabe's ki overdrive technique spilling from her body witih every breath. "KIKOHO! KIKOHO!"
You turn to the plume and cup your hands together. "KA...ME..."
tsew
Dad phases in behind you, cupping his hands has well. "HA...ME..."
Yammar rises into the sky several miles away, ripped to shreds. He spreads his arms wide and screams with effort.
You and dad bring your arms around. "HAAAAAAAAA!"
"FINAL FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
The beams strike, and again, Grandma screams, "KIKOHO!"
* * *
The earth below.
* * *
The blasts all impact at once and explode, forcing you all to close your eyes against the glare. It rises up, and up, and...
...all up.
If you want my personal opinion, telegraphing like that is just asking to have your attacks disrupted.
You open your eyes, your stomach feeling like it's dropping through your toes.
Dazarel, reared up on two legs, surveys you through the clearing smoke.
But then, maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe that looked speedy to you. After all, those forms don't look very sprightly!
"Not a scratch..." says Dad, gaping in horror.
Honestly, I've been throwing you around this entire fight. Did you really think I didn't have it in me to make the path of least resistance for a blast somewhere that wasn't me? Dazarel bares his teeth. Do you know anything about my kind?
* * *
And me. Now...where is my ki?
* * *
Dazarel explodes.
No, no, that's overdramatic.
He merely fires ki blasts from every single point of his body, simultaneously.
All of them are at his maximum power.
You don't take the time to gape. Your fingers flash to-
vip
-your forehead as you reach for your grandmother's shoulder-
vip
-and Yammar spins, already knowing to reach out and grab a handful of your fur-
vip
-and you reappear hundreds of miles away only to see all the blasts turning to home in on you.
"How does he have that much ki...?" you gasp.
"It...doesn't matter," says Yammar, gasping for breath as he spreads his arms wide. "We...we need to take them out of the sky before they hit us."
You all open up, taking out blast after blast even as thousands more come along behind.
* * *
Well.
That's a trick question, isn't it?
It's obvious, now that I know. I'm a little embarrassed it took me this long. But we spend our whole lives knowing that our ki is ours. Our ki is here. Other ki is other, and you sense it with ki sense, which is about reaching out to feel the energy of something else. Everything we learn drives in that one point. Everything is based on that one idea.
Still, I out of anybody should have realized it sooner.
I feel this planet every day during meditation. I reach out and I feel everything, losing myself in it because it's just so huge. I know how it all feels as one big mass, even if I tend to focus on the little things. I've heard it before. It's beautiful. And I know that not everybody is something other, some enemy waiting to happen. I know that everybody is important, even if they don't understand me and I don't understand them. Even if they want to be my enemy and say that it can only end in death, I know better. Every life is important, and killing them is wrong.
I should have realized it before. It's not just that we're all important. We are. But the reason people tell themselves that other people aren't important is because they don't understand them, and they convince themselves that the other people are different, are wrong, are not one of us. But you can fix that. Anybody can fix it, if they're just willing to talk to each other.
We are all important. Nobody should die.
Because we are all connected.
The grass stirs in the breeze and gives it a hint of ki, which drifts through the trees which return that ki to the ground. And on that ground is me. And Dad. And Dazarel. And Maya. And Dandeer. And that human, a thousand miles to the south. And that rock. And that shoreline. Those beetles that we somehow haven't squished yet.
We're all here, and we're all part of a great system of ki that connects everything together. So small, so subtle, we barely even feel it -- most people can't. Not so they'd notice. But when you really get to know somebody, look into their eyes, and really realize that you've made a friend, or come to understand somebody...I know what that feeling is, now.
...heh. Grandpa Goku, you never really did completely understand this technique, did you? Or maybe you just never updated how you talked about it. It's not everybody and everything, giving you energy.
Ki connects the universe. We're all one thing if you look at it right. My ki's right here. And there. And there. And everywhere.
I just need a little more right here.
Garenhuld.
Sigma, the moon above.
Epsis, the sun in the sky.
Rocks in space.
Planets around a star.
There's so much...and Garenhuld most of all. People. Plants. Animals. Tiny little things I could never see if I tried. They're bursting with it.
Everybody...
...everything...
...send me your energy.
* * *
You howl, just venting ki en masse as the blasts close in around you. Finesse forgotten, power saving left by the wayside -- you just need to get these blasts gone as fast as possible.
Behind you, Grandma finishes eating the last senzu, replenishes her power, and screams, the overdrive searing the atmosphere and wiping out a hundred blasts.
And then, they stop, all at once, fading away into the air. You all lurch in place, caught off guard by the sudden halt to the tide. You seek out Dazarel.
He stands, miles distant, looking around in confusion. He almost seems to be looking for something...
skreeeeee
You flinch at the sudden, intrusive feeling of sorcery, somehow warped and thready. You look, and see the magical shield One had the sorcerers make wavering, visible now. After a moment, it shatters.
Your eyes widen. You dissolve.
* * *
You feel the pool of latent super saiyan energy returning to you as Two dissolves. You ignore it. Instead you listen, and feel.
You hear shocked cries from the sorcerers as they see what you've made. You hear a strangled noise of awe from Maya.
And you open your mouth and scream, in a shout that transcends mere noise and enters the realm of pure energy, "PEOPLE OF GARENHULD, SEND ME YOUR KI!"
* * *
You are Ho Chan. You're a farmer. Your entire family, as far back as you can trace it -- which is a long ways indeed -- has been farmers. They have worked this plot of land, first son to first son. While others lost land in disasters, and others lost it to family feuds, your family has always held on. Your farm is not the richest, and it is not the largest, but it is rich and large enough, and by its yields, you provide for yourself and your family. You are attending to just that, one day. You have been hearing strange detonations -- that war with the Aramaians and Tastreyans going hot again, no doubt. And here you thought the existence of an ancient order of spiritual warriors would have put paid to that. You harrumph, glad that it is not your country.
And the shout comes.
On its heels, a whisper. A monster has come. I am Karen Marsden, and I am fighting the Unknown.
You flinch in shock and horror, screaming for a moment -- a scream echoed, distantly, by people from all around you, and doubtless all around the world. Mindless terror overwhelms you for a moment-
I know, it's scary. I know, it's hard. But we are ready for it. There is a reason my people revealed ourselves now. We knew this was coming, and we were ready to fight it. It's okay. We knew it was going to happen. We were prepared.
You return to yourself and find your hands bloodied from trying to smash the controls of your harvester apart. You blink, frowning at them. Why did you do that?
But the fight is hard, says the girl -- Karen. I've been forced to use an ancient technique of my grandfathers. And for it, I need your help. I need you to raise your hands to the sky. I need you to concentrate, and send me all of the energy you can. If we all come together, and we all do this, then all of our power will be combined. And while any one of us is small and uncertain, together we are strong enough to defeat anything. Stand with me. Let's throw this thing back.
Tumbling out of the harvester and to your knees, your arms are thrown to the sky before you can even question the girl. And then your body glows, and energy streams out of you as part of a massive, flowing river originating from countless people in the fields around you.
* * *
The crowd in the Hall is tense and worried. There are contingencies, and a temporary chain of command for the battle. They stand ready to spring into the fight at a word from their Lord, Matriarch, Patriarch, or Scion. Yet no word comes, even as the feel of the cataclysmic fight -- the Hall blocks signals going out, not in -- gets worse and worse.
And the shout comes.
For an instant, nobody dares to hope. Then they look again. Thousands -- tens of thousands, at least -- of power levels flare to find themselves just a little bit less than they were a minute ago. Rapturous prayers from cultists spread through the air.
And then one of the only sorcerers left behind, ready to lock down the Hall should the worst happen, shoots up to the wards, flips his hands through an array of seals, and makes a temporary opening. He looks down. "WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?!"
With a shout of joy so intense as to transcend mortal feeling, the Exiles raise their arms, and send energy as one.
* * *
The Misfits have been quietly looking around ever since they felt the rumbles. Quickly, they established that Karen and Maya were gone. None of the people they know to be Karen's people are anywhere. Something is happening. But they can't sense it -- can't find it -- and by now they're just huddled together, hoping that an answer presents itself.
And the shout comes.
A moment later, a quiet voice comes, apologetic for their worry and scared of their anger. Hey, guys. I need some help here. I promise, I'll tell you what's going on, but first -- first, I need you to send me energy. Lift up your arms for me?
Jaron is the strongest, but everybody looks to Sophie. She looks back, and shrugs. "Hey, I can wait to find out what's going on."
* * *
In the depths of your brother's head, you watch, stunned, as you watch the scene he can only partly see, feel the things at which he cannot even guess. A planet -- a solar system -- of ki, all converging on one point.
Her point.
Tears trickle out of your eyes at the beauty of it. Ki, for you, has always been a weapon. A tool. Something you loved to use, but never...never...
You collapse to your knees, eyes still locked on the scene projected on the sky above you.
You have no words to describe how this makes you feel.
And the shout comes.
Ante up, Prince, comes her voice, projected blind through the Seal. No, not through the Seal. Just quiet. So quiet Jaron couldn't possibly hear it, but you could. To how many people is she talking right now, while she thought of that? How many pitches is she presenting in these seconds, trying to convince an entire world to send her ki with no Hercule at her back? And she thought of that ploy, in a second?
It's artistry. It's genius. For the first time in your life, you feel truly humbled.
"Beautiful," you whisper. You flare your unpracticed gifts and weave a web, inspired for just an instant into glorious, sublime simplicity. You are so captivated by what you see and feel that you don't even take pride in what you know to be a flawless working.
And, through the temporary hole in your prison, your ki flows out and along Jaron's arms, unnoticed by the world in the glorious symphony playing outside.
* * *
Three golden oozaru stare in awe.
And the shout comes.
* * *
A legion of sorcerers watch, stunned, as the technique of a god casually shatters a ten-person ward.
And the shout comes.
* * *
Around the agony and horror in his head, Carrick Balor manages to avoid biting off his own tongue.
And the shout comes.
* * *
You are Maya Webley, watching Karen. Kakara. Her. The girl who's turned your life upside-down over and over. You don't know what today means for you, but you know that she is still her. What on earth you could possibly be to her, you don't know. Not after today, not after feeling all of what she truly is. But she is still her, glorious and beautiful.
And the shout comes.
For a moment, you stare, unable to fathom the thought of being a part of...that.
And then, quietly, you hear her again.
...Maya?
You look up at her. You brush aside your conflict. It's not important.
She was going to tell me, you think. She wasn't going to keep you out. And now she's welcoming you in.
You raise your arms, and send a pittance into the storm of ki you feel overhead.
* * *
The ball finishes growing as that one final piece slots into place. You sigh in relief as you feel Maya's ki join the chorus.
And it is a chorus. You worried, honestly, that this would shatter the Masquerade. You were afraid that all of this gathered power would put an end to your secrecy, and bring the Enemy to your home. But it's not one great power signature. It's still its component pieces. They're just singing as one. To your senses, of course, in this moment, they already were. But now it's obvious. A thousand voices shouting as one -- under your direction. All the energy of the grand web this system forms, brought to one place.
You look down at Dazarel. He stares back, unsure of what he's seeing.
You consider throwing the blast. You dismiss it. Two just saw what happens when he has the chance to react.
No, throwing this thing is the last thing on your mind.
With a flash, you transform, staring down with blue eyes, through a flashing golden aura. The ground around you shatters to pieces. You dimly feel Maya leaping away. And you draw the chorus in.
Down, and in.
The surge hits you like a blast from Beerus, right to the chest. You let out a strangled gasp and double over, struggling to hold onto the tide of energy. You try to stop it, but you've already drawn it all to one place; it will not be separated from itself, once begun. It all streams in, in a colossal rush. You grunt and whine, struggling not to fly apart in the face of it. Your fingers dig into your forehead. Your eyes stare sightlessly into the distance.
The last of the chorus shudders into place. For a single moment you hang in place, still, as it all finally clicks.
And a sphere of golden light blasts out from you and blots out the sun as you throw back your head and scream.
What little ground beneath you was left in one piece explodes, digging a crater large enough to be seen from space. The golden globe of light blankets everything, until everybody present stands within it. Willpower Check: Can Kakara Control Spirit Saiyan? [DC ???]: 143, holy shit, yes she can!
At the center, it's calm. Strange; you remember the legends saying that Goku went berserk when he did this. Maybe he just wasn't ready for it.
You lower your head, eyes locking with Dazarel's wide own.
"Surrender," you say, your voice quiet in the face of the devastation your mere presence is causing the world.
His eyes narrow to slits. Never.
Thanks to a nat-100 Willpower check, you get to decide what happens next. I leave it in your hands. As a reminder, we still do and always shall use approval voting. Vote for as many options you please, and know that all will be counted. Just remember that tally programs count only your latest post. If you want to add something, edit your last vote post or re-vote for everything.
[ ] Write-in.
TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM. THIS VOTE IS NOT YET CLOSED.
Skill acquired: Genki Dama [Unlearned]: The ultimate technique of Son Goku's style, the pinnacle of the North Kai's life's work, the weapon of legend that destroyed Majin Buu -- the Spirit Bomb; the Genki Dama. Requiring a lengthy charge time and the consent of others to truly unlock its full potential, this technique nevertheless, when fully prepared, unlocks a blast or power-up of truly transcendental power and nature. In rediscovering it, in the midst of battle with Dazarel, the Wyrm of the Void, you have forever secured for yourself a place in the legends of your people.
